Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Tyler Lamb and Josh Smith Sign NLI to Play at UCLA

By Bruin Basketball Report

UCLA head coach Ben Howland announced today the signing of Tyler Lamb and Josh Smith to National Letters of Intent to attend UCLA in the fall of 2010.

The Bruins’ early signing class consists of Lamb, a 6-foot-4-inch, 195-pound guard out of Santa Ana, Calif., and Mater Dei High School and Smith, a 6-foot-10-inch, 280-pound center from Kent, Wash., and Kentwood High School.

Lamb helped the Monarchs to a 31-2 overall record as a junior in 2008-09 for head coach Gary McKnight. Mater Dei won the Trinity League with a 10-0 mark and finished the year ranked No. 3 in the state and No. 12 in the nation.

”I’m really excited about Tyler Lamb joining our basketball program and family,” Howland said. “He’s very athletic and is going to be an outstanding player that can play multiple positions. He is a very good defensive player and has been a part of one of the best high school programs in the country. He has received excellent coaching, which will help to prepare him in making the transition to high major college basketball. He has an excellent work ethic, comes from a great family, and I think he’ll have a great career here at UCLA.”

Lamb averaged 14.0 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 3.3 steals (led the team) and 1.1 blocks per game (led the team) last year. He was a two-year starter at Colony High School (Ontario, Calif.) where he averaged 27.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, 5.3 steals and 4.8 assists per game as a sophomore. He is rated as the No. 10 shooting guard and the No. 38 overall recruit in the country by ESPN. He was rated the No. 1 shooting guard in the state, the No. 8 shooting guard in the country and the No. 41 overall recruit by Rivals.com. Lamb was also rated the No. 14 shooting guard and No. 60 overall recruit by Scout.com and finished third in the voting for the Press-Telegram’s 31st Best in the West.

Smith averaged 26.8 points and 13.5 rebounds per game (school record) last year at Kentwood High School, leading the Conquerors to a 19-7 record in each of the past two seasons for head coach Michael Angelidis. In 2008-09, Kentwood won the tough SPSL North League Championship.

“I’m absolutely elated to have Josh Smith attending UCLA,” Howland said. “He is one of the best big men in the country. This was a three-year process recruiting him and we got to know Josh and his family very well. He’s a great player and a great person. He has outstanding hands and catches everything. He is one of the few players that is very effective and comfortable with his back to the basket. He is an outstanding athlete and has good leaping ability and quick feet for his size. He has a very bright future ahead of him and he’ll make an immediate impact at UCLA.”

Smith also averaged 21.5 points, 9.8 rebounds and 3.8 blocks per game as a sophomore while shooting a school-record 74.0 percent from the field. He also averaged 14.4 points per game as a freshman at Kentwood High. He is rated the No. 1 center and No. 10 overall recruit in the country by ESPN. He is also rated the No. 3 center in the country and the No. 19 overall recruit by Rivals.com. Scout.com rated Smith as the No. 4 center and No. 13 overall recruit in the country and he finished second in the voting for the Press-Telegram’s 31st Best in the West.